Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer yesterday became the first mayoral candidate to declare he will raise taxes if elected.

During a campaign stop on Wall Street, Ferrer vowed to reinstate the most recent cut in the personal income-tax surcharge and said he would consider restoring a portion of the hotel-occupancy-tax cut.

Ferrer labeled the Mayor Giuliani-backed reduction in the surcharge adopted last month as “trivial and superfluous,” saying it saves the average New Yorker pennies a day, while depriving the city treasury of $180 million a year.

“I’d roll back the personal income-tax [surcharge cut],” said Ferrer, making him the first mayoral wannabe to call for higher taxes.

“I think it was a huge mistake to implement that.”

Ferrer also mocked the hotel-occupancy-tax cut that Giuliani has touted as an important jump-start for tourism.

“It sounds like Mr. Ferrer is stuck in reverse on an expressway to the past,” said Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel.

City Council Speaker Peter Vallone stuck by his decision to slash the surcharge from 14 percent to 12.25 percent for those with incomes over $90,000 annually and to 5.25 percent for those making under that amount.

“There’s no reason to be talking about going back to the bad old days,” said Vallone, who also is seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor.

Of the four Democrats in the race, Comptroller Alan Hevesi is the only other candidate to have suggested the possibility of a tax increase – but only as a last resort to pay for school reform.

Ferrer was on Wall Street to receive the endorsement of a dozen business leaders, including two deputy mayors from the Lindsay administration, Richard Aurelio and Robert Price.

After spending much of the campaign focusing on “the other New York,” Ferrer said his call for increased spending on social programs is consistent with building a better business environment.

“In order to ramp up this city, we have to do more, much more, than just keep everyone personally safe and secure,” Ferrer said.

Meanwhile, Vallone introduced what he called a “central tenet” of his education-reform proposal – teaching “values” in all 1,100 public schools.

“If they don’t come out [of school] understanding it’s more important how you treat other people, then I think the education is a total waste of money,” Vallone said.

In another development, the leaders of campaign-finance reform in Washington said during a press conference in Manhattan that they weren’t thrilled with GOP mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg for not being enrolled in the city’s campaign-finance program.

“I’ve said that I don’t agree – publicly. I’m not sure if I said it directly to him,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is backing Bloomberg.

“That kind of candidacy is not particularly fair but that’s not what our bill is about,” said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who was in New York with McCain and the two sponsors of a reform bill that will be considered by the House this week.

HEDGING THEIR BETS

A group of civic and business leaders yesterday held a press conference to endorse Fernando Ferrer for mayor – but some of his supporters have donated to his opponents: